La Ronge students thrilled to see peat moss petition presented in Saskatchewan legislature

When Cumberland NDP MLA Doyle Vermette rose in the Saskatchewan legislature recently to present a petition, a Grade 7class from the Lac La Ronge Indian Band was watching closely.

"I was so excited," said teacher Kona Barreda. "I started clapping and cheering."

The petition calls on the provincial government to reject a proposal to mine peat moss near La Ronge. Itbears more than 20,000 signatures andhasroots runningback toBarreda's class.

I hope that they learn to stand up for themselves and to fight for their land.'- Kona Barreda

Quebec companyLambert Peat Moss wants to begin operations in four large areas of Crown land near La Ronge. Opposition to the company's proposal is growingand includes a robust social media campaign to educate people on the value of preserving muskeg. That campaign is what piqued Barreda's curiosity.

"I just thought, well, I think we should be involved in this because we need to know what's happening in our land," she said.

Exploring the Lambert project fit the Grade 7 curriculum at Senator Myles Venne School on two fronts. First, the students are studying ecosystemsand how to protect them for future generations. Second, in English language arts, their first unit was about finding courage.

"It was all about standing up for what you believe in," said Barreda.

The projectresonated deeply with students like Morgan Halkett.

"This is our home," she said. "[Peat moss] has taken thousands of years to produce naturally."

Barreda said the class spent some time talking about ways they could best voice their concern. The COVID-19 pandemic meant they couldn't protest publicly, or even go door-to-door in the community gathering signatures.

"We decided to do an online petition and we thought maybe we'd get, if we were really lucky, like a thousand signatures,"Barreda said.

Nowat 20,000 signatures and growing, the petition states that "many good northern residents, local trappers, traditional land users, leaders are opposed" to the Lambert proposal.

The Lac La Ronge Indian Band. is also speaking out saying the project would interfere with traditional land use and infringe on treaty and inherent rights.

Barreda said it has been amazing to watch what started as a class project take on a life of its own and she believes her students now know their voice matters.

"I hope that they learn to stand up for themselves and to fight for their land and look after it, because they're going to inherit all of this from us."

CBC News reached out to Lambert Peat Moss for comment on this story, but so far the Quebec company has not responded. The company did tell local media in La Ronge that itbelieves opinions about the project are based on incomplete information.